2007 Grant Recipients
In 2007 the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership awarded almost $30,000 in grants to groups working on natural resource protection in the Lakeshore Basin.
A total of 11 projects from Calumet, Door, Kewaunee and Manitowoc counties
in the following Teams:
Click on a team below to view the projects funded for 2007.
To see the projects funded for 2009 click
here.
To see the projects funded for 2005 click
here.
To see the projects funded for 2003 click
here.
- Water Resources Team
- Communication and Education Team
- Land Use and Protection Team
- Agriculture and Urban Pollution Prevention Team
Water Resources
Projects must monitor, or improve streams, rivers, lakes, or wetlands. Also, considered are projects to improve public access for passive water-related recreation to public waterways.
Clean Boats - Clean Waters
The waters of our state are a vast and critical public resource. The countless streams, ponds, rivers and lakes in our Great Lakes region contain a significant portion of the Planet’s available fresh water. Everyone, at some basic level, cherishes this water. Millions enjoy and benefit from our water resources, but citizens often lack the basic understanding and skills to properly safeguard and maintain clean water and natural systems. Aquatic invasive species disrupt natural aquatic cycles and wreak havoc on native communities. The waters of Lake Michigan continue to succumb to bio-invasion of exotic aquatic organisms. In turn, these biologic pollutants are often unknowingly transferred to other water bodies, continuing the destructive cycle of invasion. As a society, we have raised standards and greatly changed our values regarding human created pollutants. In order to better safeguard our water resources, we must now do the same in regards to aquatic invasive species. The Door County Invasive Species Team (DCIST) plans to retain an Aquatic Invasive Species Intern for summer 2007 and implement Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources / U.W. Extension Clean Boats–Clean Waters (CBCW) program for marina harbor masters and staff, lake associations, boaters and citizens. Funding from LNRP will enable the CBCW workshops and programming and compensate a summer long internship.
Grant Recipient: Door County Invasive Species Team
Award Amount: $1,375
Aquatic Invasive Species Survey on 3 inland lakes
The project will perform an aquatic invasive species survey on the located in the town of Pierce in Kewaunee County. These three lakes are; Krohns lake, East Alaska Lake and West Alaska Lake. This survey will be done in the spring of 2007. Following this survey, Eurasian water milfoil and curly leafed pondweed will be targeted for treatment when the temperature reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit. A follow up survey to assess of 80% efficacy is obtained will follow. Re-treatment will be done if needed at that time.
Grant Recipient: Tri-Lakes Association
Award Amount: $2,000
Communication and Education
Projects must establish or improve communication and education about basin issues to the general public, youth, and stewardship programs.
Water Education Center for the Door Peninsula
Environmentalists in the Lakeshore Basin are well aware of the value of water quality. The general public has a general sense of the importance of clean water and biodiversity, but most lack the specific knowledge which would inspire life style changes, political resolve and citizen action to protect and improve water quality. Because Crossroads is dedicated to life long learning and environmental awareness, we are perfectly positioned to serve as the area center for water education during the coming year. Included in this project will be: research and resultant educational outreach initiatives pertaining to bacterial contamination, cladophora proliferation, and alternative septic systems. Teacher education and a lecture series will be involved, and our education efforts will culminate with our annual Family Science Day in September 2007 being dedicated to water education.
Grant Recipient: Crossroads at Big Creek
Award Amount: $2,600
Educating students on importance of clean water
Woodland Dunes staff will create a program for teaching the concepts of water quality to students approximately ages 10 through 12 using a four-part learning experience. In the pre-activity, Water basics and the water cycle, teachers will introduce and review basic information about water and the water cycle, giving students the basic information they need to take full advantage of their program. The field experience, Water quality, local watersheds, ground and surface water and water testing will be at Woodland Dunes. Subgroups learn about water quality, local watersheds and ground and surface waters at investigation stations, and will be introduced to the water testing program at Woodland Dunes. In a follow-up session, Pollutions and solutions, a Woodland Dunes Environmental Educator will present information on water pollution and potential solutions and students will be challenged to take on projects. During an assessment visit, a staff member will visit the classroom and review the projects. The goal of this program is to foster children's awareness of the importance of clean water and how we as humans play an important role in maintaining natural resources.
Grant Recipient: Woodland Dunes Nature Center
Award Amount: $4,824.40
Interpretive and Educational programming of Maribel Caves Area
The project is an extension of a 2005 LNRP grant for an educational sign located in Maribel Caves County Park in Maribel, WI. In our original grant application, we had envisioned that the sign would be the first step in an educational program at the park. Over the past two years the Wisconsin Speleological Society (WSS) has worked closely with Manitowoc County Parks and Public Works Departments to improve the trail system, expand the caves and implement a management plan for the park. As part of this plan, we would like to implement an educational program at the park. The educational program will involve a person or people giving educational tours of the park on a regular scheduled basis (two days a month from May through October 2007). The tour will follow a professionally reviewed outline and involve explanations of all aspects of the park, including the caves and karst geology, surface and groundwater, biodiversity and human history that can be found in the park. The WSS, with the money from this grant, will reimburse the educators for their time and expenses. This grant would also be used to pay for expenses relating to the publication of brochures which help further explain and reinforce the topics covered in the tours.
Grant Recipient: Wisconsin Speleological Society
Award Amount: $1,710
Land Use Protection
Projects must focus on improving land development decisions that restore or protect natural areas.
Monitoring the effects of Phragmites australis control in Lake Michigan shore habitats.
Common reed grass, Phragmites australis, is an invasive species out-competing the native natural plant species found on Lake Michigan shores. Recent control activities have ranged from bundling-cuttingherbicide dabbing of the grass stems to helicopter applications on larger stands at the edge of the lake, sometimes in concert with mowing or burning post-herbicide treatments. We will put in place follow-up studies to monitor the impacts of aerial and ground applications of the herbicides and alternative methods on Phragmites clones and on native beach, dune and wetland plant species, some of which are federally or state listed. A University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) student will make this a master's project with help from the major professor, other students, Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) staff, and Door county and LNRP related personnel and volunteers. This partial proposal is to support the master's student to study Phragmites control in the LNRP area in 2007.
Grant Recipient: Endangered Species Habitat Program
Award Amount: $5,000
Three seminars on hot issues in the basin
The Door County Environmental Council (DCEC) will host a series of three seminars, all related to our water resource either directly or indirectly, to be presented this spring at Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, at no charge to those attending. Because of feedback received at two trail seminars we held at Crossroads last fall, feedback from both attendees and those who could not attend, we perceive these events as highly desired by our community. The series of three seminars will focus on the following topics: Spotting the Emerald Ash Borer (3/28), Why Critical Habitat for the Hines Emerald Dragonfly is so Important to Door County¹s ecological health (4/25), and, Our Water, First It Was Phosphorus, Now It¹s Nitrates! (5/30). We will use a marketing/media mix of direct mail, press and electronic media advertising to accomplish the task of filling the seats with live, breathing human beings who care about the issues we will discuss.
Grant Recipient: The Door County Environmental Council
Award Amount: $2,680.33
Improving the DCEC website and improving water quality!
Funds will amplify the Door County Environmental Council¹s (DCEC) web site, which was established last year, partially funded by a grant from LNRP. Last year¹s grant was to support the establishment of a formal web site to bring DCEC into the internet age. Please visit www.dcec-wi.org to view the site in its initial configuration. Our request this year is to greatly improve certain areas of the site, especially in areas that will have a direct impact on water quality in Door County. Briefly, we want to upgrade elements of our web site to allow instant and detailed access to several printed educational resources we hold exclusively and to other printed resources that we distribute on behalf of others. Some of these resources were on our old web-page, and we thought they would translate electronically to our new site. They didn’t, but we have found a vendor in Green Bay who can accommodate these needs for us. Also, under the auspices of this grant we wish to support additional training time with EarthWins personnel (our designer) to become completely adept at maintaining the site in-house rather than relying on outside vendors for anything, Alice McCombs of EarthWins has proven to be an able and patient trainer for us to date and we wish to continue to use her services for this extended training of our staff.
Grant Recipient: Door County Environmental Council
Award: $969.50
Ag and Urban Pollution Prevention
Projects must focus on reducing and preventing water, air, or soil pollution from rural or urban sources.
The Kewaunee County Groundwater Festival
The Kewaunee County Groundwater Festival is a one-day event held for 300 5th grade students and their teachers from Kewaunee County public & private schools. These students will gather in Luxemburg Wisconsin to enhance their understanding and knowledge about our valuable groundwater resources. Students will spend half a day rotating through three hands-on groundwater lessons each focusing on a different aspect of groundwater resources: Groundwater and Surface Water, Groundwater Basics, Pollution Solutions and a KarstlBedrock display model. These lessons are developed to increase the awareness surrounding groundwater and its issues, enhance critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making skills concerning groundwater, and enhance the abilities of attendees to take local actions towards groundwater protection. Local groundwater professionals who are trained in groundwater lead the lessons and approximately 30 local high school seniors volunteer as lesson assistants. The Kewaunee County Groundwater Guardians (KCGG) will be coordinating this event, including raising money, recruiting & training volunteers, and teaching a lesson.
Grant Recipient: Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation
Award Amount: $1,000
Arsenic and bacteria testing
Calumet Groundwater Guardians (CGGs) and Calumet County Land and Water Conservation Department (LWCD) are partnering with the Towns of Brothertown and Woodville to offer a targeted groundwater sampling program to residents of each town on August 20, 2007. While the LWCD offers a voluntary sampling program county-wide, participation in the program has leveled off in the past few years. In order to raise awareness and increase participation, the targeted groundwater sampling program will provide free arsenic test kits to any resident in the selected towns who purchase a bacteria / nitrate test kit. Neighboring counties have had issues with naturally occurring arsenic in private well water but little testing has been conducted in Calumet County to determine if the problem exists here as well. To date, program participants have been comfortable with testing for bacteria / nitrates but would need additional education and incentives regarding concerns associated with arsenic. This program will be an excellent opportunity to build on an existing partnership between CGGs and LWCD as well as continue to develop partnerships with local governments to educate the public on the importance of groundwater testing and quality. The targeted program would continue annually over the next four years with different towns being targeted each year.
Grant Recipient: Calumet County Groundwater Guardians
Award Amount: $2,880
Promote needed conservation efforts in region using brochures and presentations
The Niagara Escarpment Resource Network (NERN) will utilize LNRP funds to promote its efforts and activities which will result in increased awareness and action regarding needed conservation efforts along the Niagara Escarpment, an internationally significant geologic landform feature that defines the Lakeshore Basin. NERN will utilize funds to update and reprint 3000 copies of an existing informational brochure regarding the organization and its efforts. This brochure promotes NERN’s mission for grass roots conservation and protection of the Niagara Escarpment and will be distributed throughout the Escarpments 150+ mile long corridor. Additionally, funds will be utilized to conduct a series of eight guest lecture sessions at a variety of primary education institutions located along the Escarpment corridor during 2007 and 2008. The speaker sessions will promote knowledge and awareness of this internationally important feature and the unique issues facing it, such as groundwater quality and habitat protection. These projects will encourage further local and regional actions and activities to promote conservation and wise land use decisions along the Escarpment.
Grant Recipient: Niagara Escarpment Resource Network
Award Amount: $2,000